Define Reality
by Mystic Muses
Summary: Thanks to meddling Shadi, Yugioh's greatest hater and former fan is booted from the real world and trapped in the Yugioh world. But, armed with her knowledge of events, she is left an interesting choice: help Yami and Yugi...or Marik and Bakura. RxOCxB
1. Attack of the Fans

Unfortunately, I don't own Yugioh. If I did…well, let's just say certain Pharaohs and his cheerleading squad wouldn't be happy with how the series turned out. Nor do I own any technology or companies I mention, the Bedlam Asylum – luckily – or Tokyo.

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**Define…Reality**

_The Bedlam Asylum_

"Mom, tell me again _why _we're driving into the Bedlam Asylum?" Khaia inquired poisonously in English as the Japanese taxi crawled through the Tokyo streets, being overly careful not to trample the stampede of black-suited people plowing by like a mob. An endless stream of towering skyscrapers dashed past her, spearing the azure sky drifting among the heavens, their crystal sheen illuminating the streets carpeted beside them. Pearly wisps unfurled across the sun's delicate streamers, masking the city with a false, cherry disguise. Khaia wasn't fooled.

"Hey..!"

"Khaia Amaya Stone," Khaia's mom glowered as menacingly but as politely as she could at her scowling daughter from the front seat. "Stop complaining. You're being unfair to your brother – he's been dying to go to this convention for years! Weren't you, Kenji?"

Kenji giggled gleefully and squirmed in his seat in response, his eager eyes gushing like a broken dam. Khaia rolled her eyes as her brother snuggled his endless flood of dueling decks as if they were cuddly puppy dogs. "Yes, but did it have to be a _Yugioh _convention?"

"You used to like it!" Kenji protested as he caressed and stroked his cards. Khaia was amazed he didn't topple over by the weight of it. It would have worked better than an anchor on Titanic, she was certain. "At least, until-!"

"That was three years ago Kenji!"

"So?"

"_So _the closest thing I've watched to Yugioh is Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series on Youtube, and that makes _fun _of the ridiculous card game!"

"It's not ridiculous!" He whined grumpily, waving another one of his ten Blue Eyes White Dragon cards in his sister's annoyed face. Khaia's blazing green eyes glared back at the wildly thrashing card trying to escape Kenji's eight year old clutches, daring it to oppose her. "Plus, this is vacation."

Khaia bit down a retort about the difference between vacation and utter humiliation and swept her lashes toward the trembling window, her inky hair spilling down her bare shoulders and coiling around her neck. The reflection of a murderous teen seethed back at her, mercilessly hurling daggers at the outside world.

The taxi oozed like a sleepwalking slug toward the steps of the Convention from Hell – or the Shadow Realm, or whatever it wanted to be called. Khaia didn't really care.

"_Arigato_," Khaia's mom thanked the cab driver in her native Japanese tongue. She rifled freshly exchanged yen from her purse and slipped gracefully out of the car's leather seats, her silken shawl wreathing around her slender waist.

The dreading Khaia groaned up at the gargantuan monster of a building, her almond eyes darting around the corner as if expecting a hooligan from school to ambush her and publicize her embarrassing secret to the world. Her lips twisted into a horrified gasp as she eyeballed a cult of Rare Hunter look-a-likes and Yugi clones dribbling into the convention like the Ten Plagues of Egypt.

"Hooray!" Kenji screamed as he spotted his fellow Yugioh minions, launching his duel decks into the heavens ad letting them drop like lethal maces and acid rain in collaboration. Khaia's mom smiled lovingly and patted the crazily jumping boy on the head, ruffling his mop of jet-black hair.

Letting out a failed attempt at suppressed a sigh, Khaia seized the backpack unwillingly slung over her shoulder as if it would reassure her, which, as usual, it didn't. "Honey, do you have all your money?" Her mom asked absently, brushing a porcelain hand through a shower of thick hair.

"Yes mom, I have my wallet."

"And Kenji's birthday money?"

"Yes mom," Khaia answered like a perfectly programmed zombie.

A sharp look pierced her. "All $200, exchanged to yen?"

"Yes mom!" She cried in exasperation. "And I have my cell phone, all Kenji's decks, his precious Egyptian Gods Cards, and all the other things you gave me!"

"Khaia…" Was the strained reprimand as Kenji barreled up the steps to the entrance. "Be nice, alright? You know how much this means to your brother; please, keep your temper in check?"

The dejected teen sighed and nodded, looking sick at the sight of what was lurking within the evil lair before her. She could just _feel _the menacing odor of evil fans hissing at her from the deceptively inviting doorway.

_Tokyo Mall Yugioh Exhibit_, she read the words and tried not to snort. _More like Museum of Horrors!_

Smugly, preening like a prized peacock, Kenji slid up beside her like a mischievous gremlin. "You're just mad because Marik lost Battle City and Bakura…" He drew a finger across his throat and made a sickening gargling noise, clutching at his throat and pretending to swoon. "Aaah, blaah, I'm _dying!_"

"He did not!" Khaia hissed, miming her own version of events, which involved the backpack and Kenji sprawled on the floor.

"No!" He howled, and shrieked delightedly as Khaia pretended to take a swipe at him. Khaia folded her arms across her chest and stared icily ahead, a crooked grin tugging at her lips. Yes, she had been furious about the way events had turned out for an entire year, and had adamantly refused to watch any more.

_Not that I'd _ever _watch that TV show again, _she reminded herself quickly, ignoring the fact that she had probably been more obsessed than Kenji when she _had _watched it.

Feeling like she was walking into a prison cell, Khaia was reluctantly marched into the jaws of the beast, flanked by her brother and determined mother as guards. _Could this day get any _worse?

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**Hey! Hoped you liked it so far – I highly recommend Yugioh: The Abridged Version, by the way. It's hilarious! Even if you take Yugioh with deathly seriousness, you'll like it. Just make sure it's by Littlekuriboh, though. There are some whakos there trying to pirate it. **

**Review!! **

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	2. Meddling Shadi

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OK, time to repeat the obvious: the only things I own here are my original characters and the story plot. I do not own Yugioh or anything else you would expect I do not own.

**Warning:**

Some Yugioh bashing, since this chapter's in Khaia's point of view…

And to **Rishai Bakura: **thanks so much for reviewing! I love the Abridged version – wonder when the next one's coming out?

To **A Random Fanfic Reader: **Wow, thanks! My humor is a bit weird, lol!

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_Meddling Shadi_

I stared at the place in what could only be pure and utter horror. Creepy marauding stalkers and tri-colored starfish – sorry, I mean _fans_ – where haunting the entrance hall like a pack of velociraptors pursuing their prey.

"The section dedicated to Yugi is designed like the Kame Game Shop, while Yami's is an ancient Egyptian palace, and Bakura's, or Akefia's, if you want to go by his true name, is modeled after a tomb," the host, who had called himself Hiroshi, explained graciously to my mother as he bowed. "I must say, Mrs. Stone, that we've been awaiting your visit with much anticipation."

_Of course he had. No other parent would be obsessed enough to book tickets to this freak show two whole years in advance! _I declared to myself in frustration, hating the feeling that someone was watching me wander into this exhibit like a trapped mouse.

Kenji questioned excitedly, "What about Joey and Marik?" Already he was leaping toward the nearest exhibit.

The thick caterpillars Hiroshi had for eyebrows practically shot up to his bald spot. "You both speak Japanese?" He was bewildered. "And with a perfect accent!"

"Yes," mother beamed proudly. "They're learning Spanish at school back in America as well. Do you know when the trading and dueling will begin?"

"Oh, not for another hour, madam," he explained apologetically. "But the exhibit is this way, if you please?" Mother ushered us away to talk to the exhibit manager, and Kenji began skipping toward the mock deck that supposedly belonged to the "great" Yugi Muto himself. My brother slobbered over the glass case with eyes the size of dinner plates.

I asked innocently, "Do they have his Cat Woman outfit, because I'm sure a lot of men will just be dying to get their hands on those." Kenji's brow crinkled in confusion, and he gave me a quizzical look as he peeled himself off the casing.

Ah yes, he hadn't yet explored the glorious Mysteries of Sex Ed. "Never mind," I mumbled, flogging two guys dressed like Mahaad and Seto to the left with a withering glower as they ogled the backpack bursting with cards draping from my shoulder.

"Come on, sis," Kenji pouted when he caught the look I was giving that would freeze the blood of a cobra in its veins. "They just like my cards."

As if just to prove him wrong, out nowhere a swaggering man that seemed to be trying to pass as a Joey-bulldog hybrid gave a mugger-like grin and strode up beside us, sizing the two of us up. "Hey," he barred what looked like fangs, "What's in the bag?" His beady little insect eyes already knew what was inside, of course. "Rare cards?"

I regarded the guy coolly, wondering if this was the Pillsbury dough boy convention too, because he was certainly getting an A plus in that department: rolls of fat leeched onto him like man-eating rugs.

I apologized as sweetly as I could, "I'm sorry, but we're saving our cards until trading begins. Perhaps we'll find you then?" I seized Kenji before he could ramble on bragging and began lugging him as far away as possible, when a thick, thuggish hand dropped on my shoulder. A stupid guffawing scuffled behind me as his brutish fingers tried to rummage through my bag.

That _jerk._ I whacked his hand away and slammed a booted heel down on his foot, smiling grimly as he yelped and hobbled backwards in a desperate attempt at avoiding my threatening fist. The Joey-bulldog hybrid squealed like a piglet and fled. "I didn't think so, buddy," came my low growl.

All of a sudden the feeling of being scrutinized became intense. Suspiciously I whirled around, silently challenging whoever it was to look me in the eye. Kenji tugged on my jacket, asking something, but I was too busy staring down the only person who wasn't ducking their head at my gaze: a willowy tanned man watching me impassively from the corner, the shadows bathing his soft linen robes in darkness.

_A Shadi look-a-like, _I reasoned miserably, my flaring temper slowly reducing to a boil, and then amusement at how far this adult had gone to impersonate him. The resemblance was eerie.

"Khaia, what did that man want?" Kenji complained, yanking more insistently, now on the hem of my tank top.

I glanced back at the man's corner, but he had vanished. _Odd,_ I pondered.

"If you're not going to tell me, can you at least carry all my stuff?" He sulked while dumping his three favorite duel decks into my hands. "Dueling starts in an hour, so I'll need it back then." Wordlessly I unzipped my backpack and dropped them unceremoniously inside, eyeing the remaining space, which I knew Kenji would use for "other" mysterious objects from the Convention from Hell.

"Halt, or I'll send you to the Shadow Realm!" A little boy declared to his best friend, who wailed and tore down the hall in mock terror. I dodged as the boy, who was waving a fake Millennium Rod in his hand, plowed past me, and buried my face in my hands. Three other kids decided to join in, and the five terrorists ricocheted off into the next room.

I snatched Kenji's shoulder before he could get any ideas, thank goodness, and, in a last attempt at sanity, steered the wriggling little brother towards the gigantic display of the seven Millennium Items.

Glowing, sun-woven lights vomited over the display, casting a ghostly sheen on the supposedly mystical amulets. "You know," I commented rather slyly in English so that ninety nine percent of the room couldn't understand me, "this is entirely inaccurate. The Egyptian sacred number is _nine _not seven. Technically, there should be _nine _Millennium Items." Kenji harrumphed sourly and decided to ignore my enlightening words.

Somewhere behind us the turbaned character in linen robes drifted like a lost ghost. An icy chill scuttled up my spine as his eyes traced over me, but I brushed it away, once again fixing myself with a false cool gaze.

"Kha-_i-i-_ah!" My brother's voice sang joyfully.

Oh no. I looked down at him, dreading what I would find.

As suspected, I found myself face to face with a crime against fashion: blaring cotton candy pink, an oversized bow, and a skirt that couldn't even claim to cover any thighs: the Domino High girls' uniform. "It's right in your size, too!" He thrust it at me, smiling so happily I would be a monster to refuse.

_It's OK,_ I told myself as calmly as possible, though inside I was heaving with revulsion. _Just buy it, but never wear it – _ever_. You can do this…you'll just look like all the other girls in here._ And indeed, there where mobs of girls in Domino uniforms that looked like they had some kind of mutant Téa fetish. I wondered if they could even _stoop _without that measly patch of fabric trying to pass as a skirt flipping over! A shudder scampered through my body.

"Oh Kenji, that's beautiful!" My mother magically materialized behind me, praising the nauseating creation. I cringed and smiled weakly. "Khaia will look just _mesmerizing_ in that, won't you Khaia?"

I laughed pathetically and chirped a bright and cheery, "Of course!" that wasn't fooling anyone. "Look, I'll be back. I just need to go to the…the…" I hurled my finger in a random direction that I hoped was towards the restroom. "To the bathroom. I'll meet you at the trading section!"

Escape! My legs whisked me away to the next room, and I disposed of the hideous uniform by shoving it to the far reaches of the abyss that was my backpack. _Why me? _I moaned, collapsing against the wall. _Why? _

Suddenly a quiet voice entered my hiding spot, speaking in a soft whisper. "One who can frighten off thieves cannot bear to look at a skirt?" My eyes flew open, staring at the man who had approached me. I froze for a moment, then relaxed.

It was the prowling Shadi look-a-like. I politely smiled up at him, and practically choked as the eerie resemblance to the Guardian of the Millennium Items walloped me.

Golden light trickling over him from above, his pale robes swathed around him, letting peeks of hazel skin escape from the fabric and allowing all but a curl of dark coils to escape his turban. Glinting azure eyes gazed down at me, fluttering slightly as he bowed. "_Aw ibetej em hotep,_" he spoke the traditional Ancient Egyptian greeting. "I am called Shadi."

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	3. The Bracelet

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**Disclaimer:**

No, this hasn't changed since the last chapter: I still don't own Yugioh…but I own this story, if that makes any difference?

**Reviews:**

Thanks to t recorder for reviewing! Yeah, its been forever since I've posted, but I figured no one was actually reading this. I'm back?

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_The Bracelet_

"Shadi?" I echoed, arching an eyebrow as he lowered his eyes in a silent 'yes'. _Oh, I see,_ the thought dawned on me._ I must have had the misfortune of wandering into the role playing section or something as maniacal as that._ I found myself executing an elegant bow, smirking to myself. _Well, who am I to wreck his fun? _"_Iiti em hotep,_" I couldn't help but returning in my own measly knowledge of the Egyptian language, courtesy of the days when I was almost as obsessed with Yugioh as Kenji. "My name is Khaia Stone. I must say, I am surprised to meet you here. Do you come here often?"

The man who called himself 'Shadi' replied, "No, but this situation is unique."

"Ah, saving the world?" It took all my self-restrain to stop from bursting into laughter. I strangled my giggles and squelched the urge to ask him what he did for a personal life besides standing watch over seven dust-collecting jewelry ornaments.

His brilliant blue orbs widened slightly, as if he were wondering if I somehow possessed the Millennium Eye. "Why, yes."

Something that felt like the weight of a truck dropped on me. _Wonderful, Khaia, _I mumbled to myself, _of all the people to bump into, you happen to be trapped in a no-way-out conversation with the most obsessed fanatic in the entire convention. How can he _say _that without even twitching?_

I was saved from the impossible task of burying my incredulous expression, however, because 'Shadi' was busy unveiling a shimmering golden bracelet.

My breath deserted me. Flecks of light showered the air around it, illuminating creamy pools on my tank top. Astonishing hieroglyphic runes were carved into the armlet. Portraits of gods and goddesses wreathed through the script, lacing around a brilliant chiseling of the Eye of Horus. "The Millennium Bracelet," he whispered quietly as I stared, speechless with wonder. "Men and immortals alike have sought its vast power."

"It's beautiful…" I breathed. Mesmerized, my fingers reached out toward it, barely brushing its glimmering surface…"Ahh!" I yelped in surprise, and snatched my hand back as a stream of light snaked around my arm and vanished; the ornament's twinkling eye seared violently for a moment before fading.

"Static," I muttered to myself reassuringly, a tingling slithering through my veins like a serpent's trail. "Just static-"

"Not static. The Bracelet has chosen you as its master." Alright, now this was starting to get a little…creepy.

"…Well, Shadi, this has been absolutely riveting, but now this role playing game has gotten a bit…off track."

"Roll playing?" He inquired curiously. Then a flash of understanding flickered through is eyes, pursued by a rigid determination. "This has not been for pretend. This is a serious matter – I have been searching for a person to carry out this task, and have watched and waited. Now I have found her. The Bracelet is yours."

Angrily I demanded, "Wait a moment, did you just say you've been _watching _me?" Suddenly the mysterious Ankh bearing Shadi didn't look so sure of himself; he must have heard how that sounded. _Stalker! _I was getting ready to label him.

"N-no, I didn't mean it like that, miss," he stumbled in a way I was sure was uncharacteristic for him, and I javelined him with yet another of the many death glares I seemed to have in abundance today. "Simply-"

"Anyway, _Shadi,_" I half accused, hurling a condemning finger at him. "There aren't _eight _Millennium Items, there are _seven. _A fan as obsessed with you should at least get that right!"

The tanned figure paused for a moment, then continued gravely, "Was it not you yourself, miss Stone, who said that the Egyptian sacred number was nine and not seven?"

"You understand English?" was my undignified cry of amazement. Had this man been lurking around the convention after me? Then, "Sir, I think your counting is a bit off." I sighed dejectedly, coming to a realization. _Poor man! Whoever he is, he must be on some strong medication. How could the doctors permit him to go out of the hospital? _Before I could kindly ask where his attendant was, however, the man revealed yet another 'Millennium Item' to me. It looked like a picture or a tattoo… or a brooch or an embroidered cereal box cutout, for all I knew.

"Take this as well."

"I'm sorry, but I can't accept this," was my instant reply. My father once happened to drag Kenji and I halfway across America for mom's anniversary gift; I recognized genuine gold when I saw it. _Alright, so he's a _rich _poor man, _I amended my earlier assessment. _Still, I can't let him give me this. _Carefully I tried to hand it back to him, but he refused to take it.

"This one is not for you, but you must take it," he stated with a steely finality. "Do not doubt your worth – the Bracelet chose you. As for the other, you will know who to bequeath it to."

_Keep him talking Khaia, _I coached myself nervously while nodded as fervently as I could. "And what does the Millennium Bracelet do, Shadi?" Slowly I walked towards where I hoped the security guards were, knowing that he'd follow without a second thought.

It worked. "All Millennium Items have their own unique abilities and share others," Shadi enlightened me. "The Bracelet takes this to the extreme."

Mentally I scolded myself. _He must have seen me chasing off that guy as some sort of test that I passed! Goodness, where is Kenji? _"Well, Shadi, it has been wonderful to meet you," I began after wildly pointing from the guards to Shadi in an obvious ploy to get them to apprehend him while he glanced towards the Marik exhibit. A thoughtful frown ruffled his brow as he regarded the excessive monument of the Millennium Rod bearer in the corner. "But I'm afraid I need to be going."

"You cannot leave yet. I haven't yet finished telling you vital

information-"

"Miss Stone, is this man bothering you?" A burly security guard rumbled, seemingly materializing out of nowhere at my beckoning.

Shadi slowly turned towards the man while I explained, "No sir, but I believe that he may have missed out on his medication-"

"Excuse me?" The look-a-like blurted, thunderstruck as my words.

"-and I think it may be best if we found his attendant," I finished. The guard nodded knowingly and gripped the poor man's arm.

"If you'll follow me, sir," he maneuvered 'Shadi' away pityingly.

"I am not insane!"

"Of course you're not," was the soothing response, and I swiftly darted through the crowd and into the elusive bathrooms before 'Shadi' could yell after me.

"Agh," I groaned as I flicked open the bathroom door and rested my head against one of the many classy mirrors hang above the sinks. "Could this day get any worse? First the convention, then a mugger, a crazy man, and now…" I brought the Bracelet I had suddenly found myself the master of and the Tattoo - or paper cutout or whatever it was - closer.

It was exquisite, a work of art, and somehow it felt comforting to touch. A spark of light tickled my palm as I cradled it in my arms, gazing at the twining ancient symbols.

Swiftly, covertly, I glanced around, hoping no one would be around to see me actually put this on. "Ah, why not? You'll have to find out who he is and return it anyway." Grinning to myself, I glided my wrist into it. The Bracelet fit perfectly.

A blinding white light erupted from the Eye of Horus, drenching the room in brightness. "What-!" This definitely was _not _static! "No, stop!"

An arctic chill breathed through the air, and the light vanished just as abruptly as it had come.

I was paralyzed in shock for an entire ten seconds. "OK, item number five on my count of things I would rather not have experienced," I tittered nervously and looked around. Wait, had the bathroom…changed color?

_Of course not! _I yelled at myself. _Don't be ridiculous! _Annoyed at myself, I pulled my backpack closer and threw the Tattoo inside, striding outside back into the nest of Yugioh lackeys.

The familiar display of Egyptian artifacts flooded the walls, suffocating them. One would barely be able to tell that there _was _a wall. Luckily, there were no tacky Yugioh statues out striking clichéd poses or blown up banners ranting about the 'Heart of the Cards' anymore. I shrugged, surprised that the Yami exhibit would be missing quotes of over half his dialogue, but not really giving it a second thought.

"Excuse me," I questioned a man I was certain was one of the management, though I had no idea what he'd be doing here; he looked normal. "Would you mind telling me where the trading card section is? I'm afraid I'm a bit lost." I glanced around, smothering a smirk. In the time I was gone, even the fans had piled out of the Yami section. I suppose the good old Pharaoh wasn't as popular as he would have liked.

The manager blinked, adjusting his spectacles as if to take a closer look at me. "I'm sorry, but I think you must be mistaken. There are no card games here. Duel Monsters can be played at Kaiba Land, however, if you are interested. I can give you a map to show you the way, if you'd like?"

I laughed. "Kaiba Land?" I repeated in amusement. Maybe this guy was a crazed fan after all? "No, please, where is it? I need to meet my brother there."

"I am really sorry madam, but I think you must have mistaken us for some place else. This is the Domino City Museum."

He was saying it with undeniable seriousness.

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**A messed up Tattoo and a retarded Bracelet. Poor Khaia...better luck next chapter, I suppose:)**

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	4. It's Yugioh World, After All

**Disclaimer:**

As usual, I don't own Yugioh, the Zune – though I may one _a _Zune one day (OK, so I won't. But I can dream...) – the iPod Nano, the iPAQ, Apple, or Microsoft. Though I wouldn't mind owning any of these things…

**Other Stuff:**

Thanks so much to all of you for reviewing! I honestly didn't think people would like this fanfic. enough to review (tears of joy). OK, seriously, back to the story...

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**Define…Reality**

_It's a Yugioh World, After All…_

The sun's pale honey-tinted fingers trickled over Khaia's leather boots, slowly seeping from the museum's sheer skylight and creeping towards the hidden nooks and cranny's of the Ancient Rome Exhibit. The bored teen leaned against the wall nonchalantly, an exasperated hand brushing through her hair the only hint of her impatience. A spill of dark tresses poured through her fingers as her eyes endlessly scoured the room.

_Either the Tokyo Mall managed to remodel itself in less than thirty seconds…_she mumbled once again to herself, not even daring the complete the thought. _This is ridiculous! _Her eyelids lowered, and Khaia tried in vain to pay attention to the music her new iPod Nano was droning out like an annoying, buzzing mosquito…

Khaia yanked the useless headphones out of her ears and angrily sent them into their grave at the bottom of her backpack. She didn't like traitorous technology, especially when she had switched from listening to the same repetitive music to her Zune, her mom's iPAQ, and checking her cell phone messages for two whole hours. Not only that, but the people streaming into the exhibits were staring at her as if they had never seen someone bored out of their mind before. Not to mention the raised eyebrows that, she thought, could easily pass as the result of some sort of brain tumor, she was getting at her "entertainment". As if they had never seen an ad for Apple and Microsoft's latest technology before!

"Who's that girl sitting by the swords?" A curious guy with an outrageous hairstyle whispered to his goons.

Khaia mentally rolled her eyes. _You know you've been transported to the world of Yugioh, _she thought sarcastically,_ when everyone you see has a psychotic hairstyle. _At least, that's what the museum curator and all her senses were trying to coerce her into believing – but Khaia wasn't an idiot, and she knew she'd be almost insane as the Yugioh convention followers if she believed it.

Right?

The green-eyed girl shifted uncomfortably and winced; apparently, as she had been standing there, her foot had decided to betray her too and was shrieking with numbing pain. Groaning, Khaia slumped down onto the floor. "Perfect!" She snapped in English, cursing her luck. "Mom should have called security over an hour ago – and _why _did the convention clear out? Did someone pull a fire drill?" She had been mulling over the thought as if she were contemplating the meaning of life. "Or even better, did the curator promise everyone Yugi's leather dog collar?"

Spitefully, she used one of the pamphlets the manager had given her to wipe her brow. Her fist scrunched it into a mutilated ball, and Khaia flicked it into the trash can nearby.

_Question One: Why did the convention vanish into thin air? Not that I'm complaining…_

_Question Two: Who bribes the mall to pull this prank on one single person? _

_And last but not least, Question Number Three: How did everything in this mall morph into a passable museum? _

Absently, she recalled the facts she had read about in the pamphlet; they matched the facts that her teachers had forced her to regurgitate on tests. Whoever did it was clearly a history buff.

"Oh forget this!" She finally exploded, invoking a few startled looks from innocent bystanders. Khaia expertly ignored them and strode out of the exhibit, snatching another fake pamphlet from the Reception and exiting the museum. She glanced at the sign at the entrance; instead of _Tokyo Mall, _it now read _Domino City Museum. _"Someone really went out of their way for this one," Khaia muttered, flinging the bag over her back and staggering backwards in a mix of amazement and horror. Even the _city _had changed!

A torrent of giddy giggling chortled from someone; Khaia realized with a start that it was coming from _her. _"I'm dreaming," she announced to herself. "A very, freakishly real dream, but I'm still dreaming. That's the only plausible explanation for this…" she made an absent motion to the madness blaring back at her. "Lunacy."

_…Well, if this _is_ a dream, _Khaia reasoned with a grin, _you may as well mess around with things and explore. _

She smoothed out the pamphlet in front of her and stared at the map showing directions to the museum, and ignored the museum entirely. _Kaiba Land, Domino High School…_The girl almost laughed. _Brilliant! Well, if this is a dream, you have nothing better to do, right? And that 'Shadi' character did say something about – _she glanced at her wrist, frowning. _Why did I dream that _Bracelet _here? Oh well. Whatever. _

Humming to herself, Khaia mindlessly followed the map, turning corners and hopping railings. Evergreen trees poured their shade over her head as the sun beat down on her, and Khaia stared at the thousands of apartment buildings lining the streets.

It was so unbelievably real that for a moment Khaia truly believed she was awake. Then she shook herself back into reality.

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_I wonder if that Shadi creep pulled a Houdini and made a getaway? _Khaia mused as she fingered the gorgeous Bracelet. The silence that could only universally belong to classrooms of suffering teenagers snagged her attention, however, and the Bracelet bearer looked up. A mass of pallid rectangular buildings sprawled before her, a solemn archway in front of her reading _Domino High School_ in large letters. 

Laughing to herself, Khaia took a step forward, when abruptly an invisible lash leashed around her, pulsing an intoxicating sensation of pure, raw _power _into her veins. A shaken gasp seized her lungs, and Khaia pelted the archway with her hands, trying to support herself.

"What in the heck-?" She breathed to no one in particular, and without thinking her eyes darted toward the glowing Millennium Item clasped around her wrist. The golden gem in the Eye of Horus burned mildly, and Khaia let out a dizzy laugh as yet another lasso of energy latched on and soared through her.

It's looked like she'd entered Loneyville, population: her.

"Get a grip!" She ordered herself, feeling stupider by the second. Her body tingled and her wrist burned, urging her to do _something _to get rid of this annoying boost of energy, but she didn't know what. Muttering something about how the world hated her today, Khai commanded her feet to race her toward the entranceway of the school. It didn't help much.

Angry at the weird edge her extremely realistic dream had pulled on her, Khaia stuffed her gleaming wrist deep into her jacket, hoping it would block out the Bracelet from view, which seemed to have decided to dub itself Khaia's new pet light bulb.

The tap-tap of Khaia's boots struck the dizzyingly bright floor as she walked down the hallway, reminding her of those blinding jail lights that always seemed to conveniently jump out of nowhere in clichéd cop movies.

She ignored the Attendance Office and the half-dozing secretaries gossiping about random students inside. If any of them noticed a semi-tall girl not wearing the Domino High school prison gear stroll past, none of them showed it.

Howling shrieks screamed from somewhere above like a wild animal. Khaia jerked around, finding the second closest thing: the school bell. Students, who had previously been locked up in their cage-like classrooms for over seven hours, fled from the nearby chambers, celebrating glorious freedom.

The two bridles snaring her with energy shifted, moving. Khaia was uncomfortably reminded of being the rope in a sadistic game of tug-of-war.

Nervously, she checked her watch and the beat up ancient artifact vaguely resembling a clock tacked up across the hall; her watch was two hours off. Shrugging, she tweaked it to the appropriate time and moved against the tide, feeling the sources of energy her Bracelet was going parasite on traveling, one away…and the other toward her.

Anxious pupils barreled past, shooting Khaia admiring looks while others gave her stares that suggested she was on death row for not having a uniform on.

One nearby murmured, "New student…"

"She better hope the Hallway Monitor doesn't-"

"Miss! Miss!" The bellowing of a harpy pinned somewhere behind her, perfectly on schedule. "Halt, I demand to speak with you _now!_" Khaia froze; she ducked around a corner as the hideous sight of a teacher giving chase assaulted her.

"I don't have time for this," Khaia muttered as the jackal began hunting down its prey. To her amazement, wild whoops and cheers exploded from around her, egging her on as she dashed through the parting crowd.

"You go girl!  
"Out run that old air bag!"

Khaia loped over a backpack or two, smirking widely. The Hall Monitor must seriously be suffocating her students daily if her high speed chase was getting _this _reaction.

"Take the back exit!" Someone advised.

The sea of students gave way as if she were on the Red Carpet, and Khaia slapped a high five to an awaiting guy as she leaped gracefully around a bend…into a dead end.

"No!" Khaia fumed, slamming the bolted door that was sneering at her with her palm. The girl sighed, closing her eyes as the chasing Medusa/teacher hybrid strode up behind her.

"How _dare _you run from me, young lady!" The teacher seethed, clenching and unclenching her claws.

Khaia retaliated in annoyance, "Do you honestly know someone who _hasn't _run from you?" She quietly mumbled to herself, "Why did my dream having to invent _this_ banshee?" The woman, who was crumbling from age and spewing a vendetta against student kind, stuttered loudly.

"E-excuse me!" She finally roared.

Aside from the fact that Khaia was convinced this woman was an annoying character worthy of an anime soap opera, she wasn't sure what made her say the next, intolerably insulting words. "After all those moments, 'excuse me' is the best you can think of? Goodness, this dream is getting lame…"

"'Dream?'" The Hall Monitor squawked.

"Yes, dream_, madam_, since I'm certain no man less than a masochist would choose to spend the rest of his life with you." A triumphant glee rippled through Khaia, and her lips broke into a radiant smile. "I've always wanted to do this," she grinned to the teacher. Finally: a time when she could get back at all her teachers for being arrogant prates.

"_Oooh_," a girl giggled from the corner; it seemed that half the hallway had clamored over each other to watch the drama. "I can't believe someone spoke to Miss Tamaka that way!"

Khaia tilted her head to a side, letting a rainfall of her inky hair unfurl over her neck. "Now, as highly amusing as this is…" A breath caught in her chest; the previously locked door behind her clattered open, and the ridiculous amount of energy pouring into Khaia became enrapturing – one of the sources was so _close. _"I have places to go," she managed to finish, the rumbling energy tempting her into running an impromptu marathon. _What is _wrong _with me today? _

Satisfied at the gaping teacher before her, Khaia whirled around, only to stagger backwards in shock. "Akef-?!" She choked on the words before she could blurt out his name, gawking at the arctic white hair falling past his broad shoulders, and the dark russet eyes searing her with a cold, scrutinizing gaze.

* * *


End file.
